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Identity HelpRhodonite or Rhodochrosite?

22nd Oct 2018 01:30 UTCRobert Darabos

Pink mineral originally purchased as Australian Rhodonite.

Has silver-ish inclusions in most pieces.

Question 1.) does this seem like Rhodonite? Or Rhodochrosite?

Question 2.) any ideas on a mine it would have come from? I guessed the Broken Hill or Woods Mine localities.

Question 3.) the silvery mineral? Galena?

22nd Oct 2018 02:58 UTCDoug Schonewald

There is a radical difference in hardness between these two minerals. It should be simple matter with a hardness test to differentiate the two.

22nd Oct 2018 03:07 UTCPavel Kartashov Manager

Rhodonite scratches window glass, rhodochrosite - no.

22nd Oct 2018 04:17 UTCDoug Daniels

The hardness test would be the simplest. To verify, if it doesn't scratch glass, rhodochrosite will react with hydrochloric acid (although it may need to be warmed). The second photo suggests rhodochrosite, then again, could be neither.

As far as a mine, kinda like saying you have a rhodonite/rhodochrosite from the United States. Lotsa locations; maybe not as many in Australia, but can't say for sure. Doesn't look like anything I've seen from Broken Hill (all 20 or so of them); I'm not familiar with the other location mentioned.

As far as the silvery mineral - doesn't show the cleavage of galena, unless it's fine-grained masses. In that case, well....

22nd Oct 2018 06:07 UTCKevin Conroy Manager

To me this looks like some of the pyroxmangite from Sunnyside Mine, Colorado.

22nd Oct 2018 06:18 UTCGreg Dainty

To me it doesn't look like anything I have seen from either of those two locations in Australia.

22nd Oct 2018 07:12 UTCKeith Compton 🌟 Manager

Hi Robert

Doesn't look like Rhodonite to me at all and not like any I've seen from Oz.

If it's rhodochrosite - possible - then for Australia I would be looking at the Hercules Mine in Tasmania

Cheers

22nd Oct 2018 10:57 UTCErik Vercammen Expert

Alabandite is a possibility for the dark mineral.

22nd Oct 2018 17:11 UTCRobert Darabos

It seems to scratch glass. I tried three different kinds of glass: a blender (heavy duty glass), a window, and a mirror. The mirror it very noticeably scratched. The window a little less. The blender glass not at all. The piece also has some quartz in the matrix, so it may be messing up the test a little. I'll try to find a piece with nothing byt the pink and no other mineral.

A scratch test reveals a barely white color, almost colorless. Which is both Rhodonite and Rhodochrosite, i think, so that doesn't help much.

22nd Oct 2018 19:16 UTCA. M.

To me it looks like rhodochrosite, with dark/black sphalerite.

23rd Oct 2018 00:45 UTCDave Owen

I agree with Kevin the first and third photo looks like the Sunnyside material but the middle photo looks like rhodochrosite. A nail will easily scratch rhodochrosite.

23rd Oct 2018 02:15 UTCKevin Conroy Manager

I've had rhodos from Sunnyside like in the middle photo, but never associated with pyroxmangite. That doesn't mean they don't occur together though, or that the crystals are rhodochrosite. A couple of the specimens in the gallery have small crystals too but I can't tell if they're like those on this specimen.

I still think this is pyroxmangite from Sunnyside.

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